Help Lost Boys Support Education & Peace

It’s a rare opportunity that we have to update you right after an actual visit to South Sudan! This is one of those times.

Mothering Across Continents Chief Catalyst and Raising South Sudan project team member Patricia Shafer just returned. She spent almost 10 days working former Lost Boy of Sudan James Lubo Mijak, original inspiration for the Raising South Sudan project, as well as other team members. Together, they reviewed the state of the project and laid out plans for the next nine months. We’ve included some new photos to bring you up to speed and thank you for your continuing support of the children of South Sudan.

• RATIONS of HOPE and WALKS for WISDOM. We were honored in March when the Raising South Sudan project celebrated its fifth year with a “Rations of Hope Dinner” featuring guest speaker John Dau, a former Lost Boy featured in the award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us. And we were deeply moved in April when five schools in Charlotte, North Carolina, hosted Any1Can Walks for Wisdom and raised nearly $10,000 for books and solar lights. All of these events were so fun and meaningful. We invite anyone interested in hosting a Rations of Hope Dinner or Walk for Wisdom to contact: info@motheringacrosscontinents.org
  
  
• NEW PHASE for NYARWENG PRIMARY SCHOOL. We’re excited about the dates May 27 through June 8. Teachers and students have been on break. Under Lubo’s leadership, the project team in South Sudan will meet with county officials, teachers, parents and students as the school re-opens for the next term. There is a lot of excitement about what this next phase will bring, including plans to hire two female teachers, register more girls, expand the school meals program, and purchase the first-ever uniforms for the students. These things are only possible due to donations made between early December 2014 and March 2015. Everyone is grateful.
  
  
• SCHOLARSHIPS at GUMRIAK PRIMARY. At the Gumriak orphanage and primary school, 175 students are attending regularly, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm five days a week. Eleven of the students are in the final year (“Level 8”), and we expect to have the first-ever graduates go onto secondary school in 2015. There is a real lack of good high schools in South Sudan, but we are already researching possibilities and will update you later this year. More good news: the 24 students from Aliap village that attend the school on scholarship are doing well, and they are a great reminder of what an opportunity these scholarships provide. The students range from age 9 to 15, and nine of them are in the 1^st grade.
  
  
• A VERY SPECIAL BOOK. We continue to make progress on the development of a 50-page book of South Sudan-inspire folktales written in English for use in the Nyarweng and Gumriak schools. This book is possible thanks to a grant that we received late last year, and it will be the first of its kind in South Sudan. Drawn from stories that span tribes and traditions, we hope it will be one more tool to help South Sudan and its children envision a bright, peaceful, unified future.

We hope you will continue to support this worthy project in the spirit of James Lubo Mijak’s now well-known comment: “From Education Comes Wisdom. From Wisdom Comes Peace.”

Every dollar counts. We always welcome questions, suggestions, and tax-deductible donations to the Raising South Sudan project: www.motheringacrosscontinents.org.
Contact us: info@motheringacrosscontinents.org